


Part 4: Finding Memories

by omnisan



Series: In Which Matilda Vaanderhuut Is A Badass (But in Fallout 4) [5]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Exploration, Gen, Ghouls, Goodneighbor (Fallout), Memory Den, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, filler story in theory, follows main quest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:26:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23913793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omnisan/pseuds/omnisan
Summary: While Nate goes off on his own mission to find answers, Matilda gets more comfortable in Diamond City. However, this comfort doesn't last long when she decides to accompany Nate to Goodneighbor.
Series: In Which Matilda Vaanderhuut Is A Badass (But in Fallout 4) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1158953
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Part 4: Finding Memories

Noise came from the ground floor of Home Plate, waking Matilda up. Nate had turned on a single light and stood at the workbench. He stood with his back to her, and didn't notice her creep down the stairs, which startled him when she finally spoke up.

"What are you doing?" 

He turned to her and tried to soften his rather intense expression. "Don't worry about me. You should get some rest." 

"That's the type of thing that someone who's planning to kill you says." Mati stated.

Nate sighed. He couldn't keep all of his secrets from Mati, especially if they were basically living together now in Diamond City. 

"You know I've been out a lot recently." 

Mati nodded, following along.

"I helped a detective. So now he's helping me try to find Shaun." 

"That's good to hear." 

"We've got a lead on the son of a bitch that took Shaun. And I'm going to get answers." 

Mati was more awake now, and raised her eyebrows in surprise at the change in Nate's tone. Not a moment too soon, a knock at the door caught their attention. Nate grabbed his gun and headed towards the door. On the other side, Mati could see Danse and Dogmeat, as well as who she assumed was the detective Nate mentioned. 

Then it hit Mati. She rushed over to Nate's side at the door. "Wait, you're leaving right now? I've barely woken up." 

"You're not coming Matilda." 

"What?" 

"It's too dangerous of a journey for you to come along. I've already lost my son and I don't want to lose a friend too." 

Mati frowned and side-eyed everyone at the door, "Looks like you've already got a team to go with anyways." 

"Danse has military experience. Clearly Valentine is helping me on the case and we need Dogmeat to help too." 

Mati peered out the door at the two men and Dogmeat. She didn't want to be left alone to her own devices again, but she wasn't going to make an even bigger scene. 

"Wait here a sec, I'll be right back." 

Mati hurried up the stairs and grabbed her bag from under the bed, rummaging around until she found the box of Cram she found when she went out exploring in her search for caps. Returning to Nate, she gave him the food as a parting gift.

"What's this for?"

"You, so you better come back alive." 

Although it was still quite early, Mati had a hard time getting back to sleep after Nate left. In fact, she wasn't at all able to sleep further. She just tossed and turned on the bed with no blankets. She hoped Nate could find the answers he was looking for, but she worried about him. The world wasn't so safe anymore. 

Trying not to keep herself locked in her thoughts all day, Mati quickly changed out of her vault suit and into the clothes she bought previously so she could feel more normal going out. Perhaps in what seemed like yesterday to her, most people wouldn't eat such strange things at odd hours of the day, but a bowl of noodles seemed like a good start to the day. Mati knew it was early as she was one of the only people out and about, aside from the Diamond City guards. She ordered a bowl of noodles from the robot and ate in silence, or at least for the most part.

"Hey, ain't you that vault dweller?" 

Mati turned to see the woman that got her and Nate into Diamond City. With a mouth full of noodles, Mati could only nod. Before she could do anything, the woman closed the gap between them and kept on talking. 

"I don't know if you remember me, Piper Wright." She looked around for a moment. "Where's your friend?" 

"Um…out."

"Shame. I wanted to have a chat with both of you, but if you're the only one available I can make do."

"What's this all about?" Mati wondered. 

"I run Publick Occurrences, write my own paper for the city. Ever since you two came here, people have been talking about you. And I want the scoop."

"The scoop?" 

"Come over and let me interview you." Piper said with a smile. 

Mati couldn't lie, it did seem a bit strange that this woman came out of nowhere and suddenly became quite interested in Mati and Nate, but she didn't have much else to do while she waited for his return. 

"So you're a vault dweller." 

Matilda recalled what Nate told her before. There's no need to reveal too much. However, she wasn't getting a bad vibe from Piper as they sat. 

"Yeah, I guess that's what people are calling it." 

"Vault 81 usually keeps to themselves…" 

"Oh, no. We—I'm from Vault 111, near Sanctuary Hills." 

"You travelled quite a ways to get here then. Why Diamond City?" 

"Well, I came with Nate." 

"The other vault dweller?"

"Yeah."

Piper was picking up the hints that she wasn't going to get much else out of that topic, so she decided to hit on something different. 

"What was it like in the vault?" 

The blood drained from Mati's face as she recalled the details. "Well, um. We were frozen in cryo pods when the first bombs dropped." 

"God, that was like 200 years ago. You're saying you're over 200 years old? You look so young." 

Mati nodded, "Thanks. But, it's not all that wonderful."

"Why do you say that?" 

"We, Nate and I, were the only survivors." Mati shivered.

"Oh, I—I'm sorry, I didn't realize. That must've been hard coming from the vault to this mess. How's that been for you?"

"Frightening," Mati chuckled. "Everything is different, and usually not in a good kind of different way." 

"I saw the other vault dweller with Valentine earlier." Piper commented. 

"They're…looking for someone." 

"Diamond City police are notorious for being awful at helping out with that kind of stuff. I hope he finds who he's looking for." 

"Me too." 

"Final question, what would you say to someone who's lost a loved one but is too scared to look for them?" 

"Don't give up on the ones you love." 

Piper smiled. "Thanks, blue." 

"Blue?" 

"Your vault suits are obnoxiously blue." 

Mati laughed, "That's actually why I bought new clothes. I didn't like the looks I got, though I still get them a bit." 

"You'll fit in soon enough. Hell, you already bought Home Plate." 

"How do you know that?" Mati asked.

"I have my ways." Piper smiled. "Also I saw you leave earlier. The place has been empty for a while, so I put the pieces together. Anyways, don't be a stranger. You're growing on me." 

Mati took her leave so Piper could get to work on the newest edition of the paper for the next day. Mati was glad for the friendly conversation as well as the distraction, but now the loneliness was already starting to set in as she aimlessly wandered around the city. More people ambled about, making it seem much more lively than earlier that morning. Piper's questions led Mati to think of how her life has changed in what seemed like so little time, though it really had been two hundred years. 

And then she thought of Jonah again. If he were alive, this wasteland of a world wouldn't feel so empty. At times like this, Mati wondered if there was a point to be alive when your entire world was gone. She tried not to have such a grim outlook on the world and her life, but it was hard when she was left alone. 

The only thing she could do to take her mind off the negative was to sleep. Finally, tiredness from waking up at an early hour decided to hit her like a brick. She quickly made her way back home and crawled into bed, still unsatisfied with the lack of blankets, and easily fell asleep. 

After Mati woke again, she spent a large portion of the day doing prep work. For what, she didn't have a real reason. Considering Nate might not find answers wherever he was off to, it was likely they'd be travelling again soon. Using old, paperboard cartons and duct tape to hold them together and to prevent leaks, Mati poured boiling water into them and stored them on the table she found. It wasn't much easier to find enough food for both of them for several days away from any settlement, so Nate usually tried local wildlife over a campfire, leaving the canned food to Mati. All her recent scavenges led to her finding more canned food to stockpile for that inevitable journey. 

In a way, they were probably more prepared now for anything, especially with Diamond City vendors looking to make deals. They had food, weapons, medicine, and more here. Sanctuary seemed a little less like home to Mati the more she thought about it. However, that familiar twinge in her heart came back at the thought of Sanctuary and memories of Jonah and the good times came back. Alone, her thoughts could cripple her if she allowed it. So, she finished the last carton and headed outside for the rest of the afternoon through evening. Anything to stimulate her brain with new thoughts.

A door opened and closed. It was late, and Home Plate was dark. Mati was still wide awake in bed, unable to sleep, now more so with the sudden intrusion. She didn't think Nate would be back so soon, and with no response from the intruder, she became anxious. Grabbing her gun from the dresser, she slowly crept down the stairs, as to not make a sound, before quickly turning on the light near the workbench and aiming her gun. Nate sat in the armchair placed at the far end of the room.

Mati lowered the gun. "You're back." 

Nate hardly reacted to the gun being pointed at him. That's when Mati knew something was wrong, or at least bothering Nate. He looked burned out. Mati put her gun down on the table and grabbed some of the water she boiled earlier before rushing to Nate's side. She sat on her knees despite the hard and cool concrete making it uncomfortable.

"What happened?" 

Nate took the water she handed him and drank a lot before handing it back. She waited.

"I saw a lot of shit today." 

"Are you okay? Did you find any more clues?" 

Nate released a long sigh, then spoke after a moment. "I'm sorry, I'm just really tired." 

"It's okay," Mati said softly. "Why don't you sleep in my bed and I'll sleep in the sleeping bag."

Nate opened his mouth to protest but Mati stopped him. 

"It wasn't a question or a debate. Go get some rest." 

Waking up with a backache was the least of Mati's problems. Nate sat at the table near the workbench, mindlessly fiddling around with his Pip Boy in silence.

"Nate?" Mati asked hesitantly as she approached him.

He looked up and offered her a good morning, yet showed no emotion. 

"Nate, what happened yesterday?" 

He sighed and removed his Pip Boy before running his hands through his hair, clearly stressed and full of thoughts. 

"The man that took my son…I found him. He wasn't a man, he was a synth. A fucking robot." Nate paused for a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing. "All I know right now is that Shaun is with the Institute."

"So he's alive? That's good. What's the next step then? Find the Institute?" 

"Kellogg was a synth. Valentine suggested we access his memories, but we have to go to Goodneighbor in order to do that." 

"Goodneighbor? Where's that?" With so many locations with new names now, she had no clue where Goodneighbor was or what it used to be. 

"Looks like it's east of here. Not too far, but who knows what we might come across on the way there." 

"How long do you think it'll take to get there?" 

"I'm hoping an hour or two, but that's the best case scenario." 

Mati nodded, already planning things out in her head. "We have enough water to take, and some food too. We can eat at Takahashi's before we leave so that's one less meal to worry about, and—"

Nate interrupted, "Mati, you don't have to come with me." 

Her face scrunched up in confusion. "What? Why?"

"I've already put you through a lot. Raiders, scavenging for food, I know it's not easy." 

"Nate, I don't think you understand. It was my choice to come on this journey with you. I signed myself up for this. I want to go to Goodneighbor with you." 

Nate finally looked at her for longer than a brief second, studying her face as she spoke. There were no lies in her words. They were genuine. 

"We're going to have to prepare more than just food and water then." 

The streets were silent. This was a good thing. It allowed Mati and Nate to hear if danger was close by. However, Mati thought it was a little too quiet. They could walk into an ambush or something. For that reason, they both walked with their weapons in hand, ready to shoot if needed. Mati had since gotten her submachine gun modified for better handling, but it was only good for close range encounters, which she prayed they wouldn't have. Nate had his sniper hanging across his back while a rifle was firm in his hands. They walked side by side in silence.

They passed more dilapidated buildings among those still standing. Mati wanted to loot them for more supplies, but they had a more important mission on hand: get to Goodneighbor, preferably before nightfall. As awful as the world seemed during the day, it was always worse at night. That's when the monsters came out.

The sun was at its peak and Mati was just thankful that she purchased her sunglasses. She saw Nate squinting his eyes, but that also could've been due to his concentration and the thoughts in his head. Mati felt like it was her duty to get him out of his head, but she didn't really know what was best to say. 

"Did you ever believe in conspiracies?" Mati asked out of nowhere. 

"Like what?" Nat asked. "Do you?"

"I heard a while ago this thing about birds. That they're not real and they're just robot spies." 

"For who?" 

"I don't know. Government maybe?" Mati shrugged. "Haven't you noticed there's no birds chirping?" 

"They're probably all dead." 

"Or they could be spies. No more governments…no more birds…" 

Nate chuckled, finally breaking his serious face. "Is that what you believe?" 

"I never said I believed it. But it kinda makes sense. Don't you think?" 

"I'm not really sure what to make of all that."

They continued on a bit longer before Mati asked why Nate still wore the blue vault suit.

"It's comfortable. Don't want to spend more caps if I don't have to, I suppose." 

"Are you saying I shouldn't have bought this?" Mati waved a hand over herself, referring to the new clothes she got in Diamond City.

Nate glanced at her. "Well, no, but…"

"But?" 

"Those glasses look kind of goofy." 

Mati gave Nate a playful shove. "You look like a blueberry." 

Their laughter echoed through the emptiness of the streets. They didn't seem so eerie now. Until a crow flew away from a pile of bodies. Nate and Mati exchanged a glance. 

"Better be careful through here." 

Nate took point and kept his gun at the ready. Mati tried to do her best to keep a lookout for anything or anyone that might sneak up behind them. They walked silently, their steps making almost no noise. The only thing that could take them by surprise was someone watching them through the windows of the taller buildings. 

"Let's get out of the middle of the street." Nate advised. 

The sidewalks didn't provide much more cover, but it made it harder to be spotted from buildings on both sides of the street. As Mati made her way to the sidewalk, carefully stepping over and around bodies, a hand grabbed her ankle and made her trip. Her gun flew out of her hands, making Nate turn to see what had happened. 

Mati screamed as the body she thought was dead reanimated itself and tried to attack her. Quickly and precisely, Nate landed a bullet into its head to kill it for good. Unfortunately the noise from the gun triggered a chain reaction of more dead to rise in the street. 

"Ghouls. Mati we gotta run." 

She scrambled to her feet, grabbing her gun before following behind Nate as they ran down the road to get some distance between them and the ghouls. When the ghouls lunged at them, Mati and Nate used the opportunity to put more bullets into them. This went on for a few blocks until the last one finally fell. 

"I fucking hate those." Mati panted. 

She leaned against a boarded up door and grabbed more ammo from her bag, as well as water. Nate reloaded his weapon as well and took the water handout from Mati. At the least, they had to stay hydrated. 

"You okay?" Nate asked after handing the water back to Mati.

"I'm fine." One knee of her new jeans had ripped in the fall, but she wasn't bleeding badly. "How much further do you think?" 

Nate looked at his Pip Boy and tried to determine their location. "We've got to be halfway at least." 

Mati nodded. "Let's keep going then." 

After the journey consisting of more ghouls, super mutants, and feral dogs, Goodneighbor was finally in sight, as noted by the large neon sign. The city had been walled off from all angles, leaving a single door to get in and out of. That's a fire hazard, Mati thought. An easy way to murder a large group of people when there's no dedicated team to put out any fires. 

Nate led the way through the single door, which opened up into a decently sized area surrounded by buildings and the wall. Mati recognized the one as the Old State House, but her eyes quickly darted towards the man in the middle of the opening. 

"First time in Goodneighbor? You're gonna need insurance if you think you're gonna walk around here." 

Mati glared at the man from behind her shades, casting a sideways glance at Nate. 

"You better back off buddy." Nate responded, serious face on. 

"Woah, okay. We can just say you paid your insurance." 

Suddenly a man came walking up from the shadowy pathway between the buildings further up. "Woah, woah, woah, time out." 

A ghoul adorned in a red jacket walked up to the scene coolly, like he owned the place. Mati gripped her submachine gun, but Nate didn't seem too bothered. 

"When people walk in, they're guests. You lay off that extortion crap." The ghoul continued, speaking to the insurance man. 

"Why do you care? They're not one of us." 

The two seemed to no longer care about Mati and Nate as their quarrelling continued. 

"Come here, let me tell you something." The ghoul opened his arms to get close to the man then promptly stabbed him in the chest two times. 

"Holy shit." Mati muttered under her breath as she watched the man crumple onto the ground, dead.

"Why'd you have to go and say that, huh? Breaking my heart over here…" The ghoul turned his attention to Mati and Nate now. "I know you had the situation handled, but a mayor's gotta make a point sometimes. You guys alright?" 

Mati couldn't help but stare. "You killed him." 

"You're observant. You'll fit in just fine here in Goodneighbor. 

"I'm starting to doubt Goodneighbor is actually good." Mati said quietly to Nate.

"This neighborhood was cobbled together out of the freaks and misfits that wouldn't fit anywhere else. You can make friends here and call it home. So long as you remember who's in charge." 

With that, the ghoul walked off, leaving the dead body of the man at Mati and Nate's feet. Mati glanced at him before bending down and searching the man's pockets. A couple caps and some ammo she passed to Nate turned out to be a decent find. But Nate was on a mission. He headed towards a nearby ghoul guard that watched the scene happen without a care. 

"Can you point me in the direction of the Memory Den?" 

"Round the corner then left. Can't miss it." 

"Nate." Mati whispered harshly to get his attention. "Nate!" 

He walked back over to her, still near the dead body. "What?" 

"They're ghouls." Mati whispered. 

Nate sighed. "Not all ghouls are bad." 

"I don't understand." 

"I don't really know how to explain it. They were people that got affected by radiation differently than the ones that attacked us." 

Mati was still confused, but she knew Nate had an agenda he wanted to get to. She nodded and accepted his answer before following him further into the town. Just like the guard said, they couldn't miss the Memory Den with it's large sign indicating it's existence. 

"This is Scollay Square?" Mati wondered aloud.

Nate headed towards the red doors, holding one open for Mati despite his urgency to get inside. From there, they found detective Valentine talking to a woman on a chaise lounge, directing him to the basement. He gestured at Mati and Nate to follow. Valentine interrupted a woman working at a terminal and began to say things Mati didn't quite understand. This was for Nate anyways, so she zoned out. 

"Matilda!" 

Mati snapped out of her daydream to be confronted with Nate. "What?" 

"This is going to take us a while. Why don't you go explore Goodneighbor in the meantime?" 

"You sure?" Mati asked, looking between Nate, Valentine and the doctor. "How will I know when you're done?" 

"You'll find me or I'll find you. I'm a blueberry after all." 

Mati smiled and gave a parting wave to Nate and Valentine. Time to explore Goodneighbor. 

Seeing as Goodneighbor was just Scollay Square, Mati was surprised at how it had turned into an entire town, and a decently sized one at that. The first thing she noticed was the vast amount of people that littered the streets. A hotel existed, but apparently they'd rather sleep in shabby prefabricated structures and on mattresses on the ground. Mati figured she and Nate would end up at the hotel at some point since the trip back to Diamond City would be more dangerous at night. However, she ignored it for now. Other unlabeled buildings existed, to which she assumed were homes. Back to the only entrance and exit, Mati noted a weapons shop run by a robot, and a ghoul right next door that sold general goods. 

"A new face in my store and you're not screaming. So polite." 

"You're not going to hurt me?" Mati asked out of curiosity, still confused about ghouls. 

"I'm just here to sell goods. You want anything?" 

"What's it like being a ghoul?" Mati blurted out. 

"Always the same questions from newcomers, but I can't blame them. I look pretty good for being 220 years old." 

Mati scrunched her face in confusion. "You're 220 years old?" 

"Okay, fine, more like 270 years, but don't go telling everyone. You don't know what it's like being that old." 

"Actually I do." 

"Prove it then. What was the world like before the war, if you're so ancient?" 

Mati paused. "It was…beautiful. The world wasn't so bleak and depressing, and…"

And Jonah was still alive. Mati closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Now was not the time to think about him. 

"Well you're either the most well-preserved ghoul I've seen or the second best bullshitter in Goodneighbor." The ghoul laughed. "So, you wanna see what I got? It's a little bit of everything." 

Mati took the opportunity to see if she carried any better food items than what Mati brought with them from Diamond City. She picked up some snacks before heading next door to restock her ammo for her submachine gun. The ghouls from earlier made her use more than she was expecting, and she tried to use it sparingly, which was hard when a horde of undead was attacking you. 

Mati felt strange and out of place in this town. Perhaps Goodneighbor wasn't bad per se, but something felt off. It made her uncomfortable that even here in the place of so-called freaks and misfits she still couldn't blend in, and continued to get stares from everyone she walked past. Despite not having spent much time around Goodneighbor, she felt like perhaps it was better to just sit and wait for Nate and Valentine to be done with whatever it is they were doing. 

"You're sure you're okay?" Mati wondered as she and Nate left the Memory Den. 

"Yeah, it was just a weird experience." 

The sky was now dark. Whatever Nate and Valentine did in those weird pods, it took quite a while. Valentine suggested they try to get some rooms at the Hotel Redford, right next door, rather than try to attempt the journey back to Diamond City at night. They could start with fresh minds in the morning. 

Mati led the way and did the bargaining to get two separate rooms this time, and right across the hall from each other. Since Nate wasn't feeling up to talking about what happened, Mati left him with some food and water and headed off to her own room. No pillows and blankets, but at least there was a mattress, though Mati didn't want to think of how many people might have slept on it before her. She changed into her vault suit to keep warm before laying down. Only then did she realize how tiring the day was for her and quickly got to sleep.

Mati was lucky enough to get a room with a window that overlooked the street out front. When she woke up, the sun was shining just enough to brighten the entire room. Feeling rested, she got out of bed and tried to feel more normal by changing clothes and brushing her hair. When she felt decent enough, she made her way across the hall to Nate's room. 

Three knocks and no answer. For a brief moment she thought perhaps he was still asleep, but then she noticed the tiniest piece of paper stuck between the door and the wall. Written in neat handwriting, Nate explained he was out looking for the mayor. Mati decided to try and find them and figure out what the next plan was. 

A lot of the people she passed by in the lobby and even outside the hotel stared at her and gave her overall bad vibes. She tried to avoid them at all costs. When she found a guard, a human one, she asked if he knew where she could find the mayor, as it was her best shot at also finding Nate. He grumbled about something but pointed her in the direction of the town's only entrance. As she re-traced her steps from the day before, she could already see Nate's bright blue vault suit standing next to a vividly red jacket. 

"You must know the area quite well. Maybe you can point me to any potential areas with high loot." 

"Super mutants and raiders ransacked a lot of the surrounding area, but you can find some treasure around them. Sometimes." 

Nate mumbled to himself in thought as Mati approached and joined the conversation. Even though she knew the mayor wouldn't hurt her like the other ghouls, she still kept her distance and stayed close to Nate since she was unarmed. 

"Matilda, this is Hancock, the mayor." Nate said, breaking away from his thoughts.

"I don't think we were properly introduced yesterday. I'm sorry if I gave you a fright, Finn was on my last nerve and deserved what he got." The ghoul smirked. 

Mati looked at him and said nothing. "What were you talking about, Nate?" 

"I'll explain later." Nate turned to Hancock, "You don't mind if we step away to eat, do you?" 

"Go for it. I know Daisy's got plenty of food. You know where to find me if you need me." 

Hancock walked towards the Old State House while Nate and Mati headed towards Daisy's store. Nate treated her to a breakfast meal since Mati paid for the hotel rooms. It was one way to stay even with each other. While they ate, Nate explained what had happened in the pods at the Memory Den. He talked about how he watched memories play out before him, all from the man that took his son. Nate witnessed that very moment again, but through a memory, and it still hurt him. Mati understood why he seemed so quiet and reserved the night before. 

After everything, the memories led him to one conclusion: find a person named Virgil. However, this meant going to the glowing sea, a location neither of them were ready for yet. 

"We need to gather supplies, weapons, ammo. It's not going to be a walk in the park. We might need to stay here for a while and loot the surrounding areas. If we could find power armor, or even hazmat suits, it would make this so much easier." 

"What's the glowing sea, exactly?" 

"It's where one of the bombs dropped and irradiated the surrounding area."

Mati gulped. Her mind replayed that awful day the bombs dropped. It was the last time she saw Jonah. She cursed under her breath. 

"Virgil is the key to the next step in finding my son. If that means I have to spend some time gearing up for the unknown, then so be it." 

Mati nodded. "I want to help you however possible." 

Nate thought for a moment. "We just need to prepare."


End file.
